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Albanian revolution in tourism, a challenge for employment

After the economy crisis in 2008 which affected European Union and the fact that emigration goes in cycles and with years it vanishes until it disappears all relations to the origin country, even if it is in the economic aspect, it was made obvious that the main economic backbone would be the tourism sector which would take the place of remittances in Albania, with the difference that this pillar would stay in its land and not somewhere else.

Those landscapes remaining still untouched in Albania, or wild as foreigners like to call them, mountains or seashores have turned into tourist attractions and have been growing from year to year, for the publicity that was made and for the tradition that is being created, with groups that go hiking, climbing, cycling etc, which did not exist before.

Another factor that has played a role in favour of Albania, as per irony of luck, has been worldwide terrorism. Hitting some of the most well-known Mediterranean tourist attractions, has made many tourists from Eastern Europe and not only, to come to the small but untouched by this global wound Albania, even for safety reasons.

When coming to Albania, besides safety, they get a more economic offer with the wild and virgin nature, which has made the difference from other places, for example, more luxurious.

To contribute in this direction, The Headhunter Company, through the People First Project, financed by USAID and the Sweden government where our company is also co-financing, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Welfare and National Employment Service, is implementing a project to train two thousand young people, which, during these two years, will receive the needed knowledge in 8 professions in the tourism sector, so that they can be prepared for the labor market.

The six-week long training will be done for free in the Vocational Training Centres in 5 cities in Albania, such as Tirana, Durresi, Vlora, Shkodra and Korca, while the 1 month internship will be paid by the project and will be done in the best hotels and restaurants in Albania, with which we already have memorandums of understanding.

This means that the human resources, after receiving the competencies, will have a real chance for employment, influencing this way directly in the growth of service culture in the tourism sector.

In this frame, HH Boutique Hotel, a three-star hotel in Dhermi, only 300 meters away from the seashore, will serve as the tourism academy, where the best students out of the training will serve to the customers of the hotel by rotation.

This idea, inspired by a similar prestigious tourism academy in Scotland, is only the first step towards employment growth and most importantly, increase of the quality of service offering in this huge takeover, and the interest shown so far by the young job-seekers and not only, is a clear testimony of the will and desire for work inside the Albanian youngsters, and also for the intelligence of the new generation which has understood that the future of this country is tourism.

Professions such as waiters, receptionist, barmen, cooks, maintenance workers and so on, will receive other values and sizes. When the qualified human resources that will come out of this project, will smile, will serve with dedication and passion, will be trained and with a proper presentation, as a result, besides great economic benefits that the country will receive by this mission, which is also surely patriotic, will increase significantly the wages of the above mentioned professions, by listing them among well-paid positions of the service sector and not among second-hand jobs, in which anyone feels unappreciated and unmotivated.